Colonel E. H. Taylor Cured Oak Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey

Tobacco, dried fruit, vanilla, and seasoned oak open with the depth and restraint of long maturation. Colonel E. H. Taylor Cured Oak Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey is the original 2015 limited release, a remarkable 17-year-old experiment built around barrels whose white oak staves were air-cured for 13 months, more than twice Buffalo Trace’s customary curing period. Matured in historic Warehouse C and bottled at 100 proof, it translates Colonel Taylor’s enduring interest in better barrels, better aging conditions, and uncompromising whiskey production into one of the most distinctive expressions in the E.H. Taylor collection.

Product Details:

• Producer: Buffalo Trace Distillery
• Owner: Sazerac Company
• Master Distiller: Harlen Wheatley
• Spirit Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
• Mash Bill: Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1
• Maturation: 17 years in historic Warehouse C
• Cask Type: New oak barrels constructed from staves air-cured for 13 months
• Age Statement: 17 Years
• Release: Original 2015 limited release
• Proof: 100 Proof
• ABV: 50%
• Production: Limited-edition release

Sensory Description:

The nose begins with tobacco and dried fruit, carrying the mature character expected from seventeen years in oak without losing aromatic detail. Vanilla, toffee, and fig develop across the palate, framed by seasoned oak and the dry structural character of extended maturation. The body remains medium and composed rather than excessively heavy, allowing the sweeter tones of vanilla and cooked fruit to balance the increasingly assertive influence of mature wood. The finish is long and dry, with lingering oak, tobacco, dark fruit, and restrained sweetness giving the whiskey a particularly contemplative close.

Awards & Accolades:

• Score: Distiller 95 Points, Amanda Schuster

Producer’s Background:

Buffalo Trace Distillery produces the E.H. Taylor collection in tribute to Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., one of the formative figures in American bourbon. Taylor established the O.F.C. Distillery, an important predecessor of today’s Buffalo Trace, and became closely associated with advances in distillery design, fermentation, column distillation, warehouse construction, and whiskey quality. He was also a force behind the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, legislation that established meaningful standards of identity and production for American whiskey.

Cured Oak is especially fitting within that legacy because its defining experiment takes place before the whiskey ever enters the barrel. Instead of using barrels made from staves subjected to Buffalo Trace’s customary curing period of roughly six months, the oak for this release was exposed to the open air for 13 months before cooperage. The resulting barrels were filled with Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 bourbon and matured for seventeen years in Warehouse C, a historic aging warehouse closely tied to Taylor himself. The experiment placed unusual emphasis on the relationship between seasoned wood and prolonged maturation, producing a bourbon in which the barrel is not simply a vessel but a central part of the whiskey’s identity.

The original Cured Oak appeared in 2015 as a special limited edition and subsequently became one of the more elusive releases in the E.H. Taylor collection. Its identity is particularly important today because Buffalo Trace reintroduced Cured Oak in 2026 in a younger 10-year form. The original 2015 bottling described here remains distinct: a 17-year expression combining unusually long stave curing, extensive maturation, historic Warehouse C aging, and the traditional 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond presentation. Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley, who has led Buffalo Trace’s distilling operations since 2005, oversees a production program that continues the distillery’s long-standing combination of traditional bourbon methods and controlled experimentation.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve at approximately 18 to 20 degrees Celsius in a Glencairn, copita, or other tulip-shaped whiskey glass, preferably neat on the first pour. Allow several minutes in the glass for the mature oak, dried fruit, tobacco, and vanilla tones to open. A few drops of water can soften the 100-proof structure and reveal additional aromatic detail, while a single large cube offers a slower, cooler presentation. For a whiskey of this age and rarity, cocktails are best reserved for personal preference rather than necessity. Pair with toasted pecans or walnuts, aged cheddar, dark chocolate, roasted or smoked meats, or a restrained cigar pairing where appropriate, allowing the bourbon’s dry oak, tobacco, fruit, and caramelized tones to remain central.